Academics

Kathleen Morgan

Associate Professor of Psychology

Degrees

Ph.D., M.A., University of California, Davis
B.A., Canisius College

Main Interests

Applied animal behavior, stress in captivity, animal welfare, human-animal interactions, science education. See my personal webpage for more on these interests, for examples of publications, and for my vita.

Research Interests

I am interested in the relationships between humans and other animals, and in particular, how those relationships can both be stress-inducing and stress-reducing. As a result of these interests, I spend a lot of time in zoos, aquaria, and public parks--observing animals in captivity and human responses to these animals as well as animal responses to human visitors. A visit to my personal webpage will let you know more about these research interests.

In addition, I am part of a long-term interdisciplinary study of vernal pools on campus and elsewhere in New England. Specifically, I maintain a database of yellow-spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) that visit our monitored pools.

Teaching Interests

I teach courses in animal behavior, general psychology, and biological psychology. I'm also passionately interested in the improvement of science education and in partnerships between the college and kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school science programs. I'm an active member of Project Kaleidoscope,and the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Other Interests

I love quilting, reading, gardening, cooking, and hanging out with my dog Zucchini (sitting on my lap above) and my horse Cocoa (you can see her on my personal webpage).